Afghanistan will be in throes of Taliban tyranny if US pulls out early: NATO
July 14th, 2010 - 2:54 pm ICT by ANI
London, July 14 (ANI): While the United States, Britain and other allied countries are planning to pull out from Afghanistan in two to three years time, NATO secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen has warned that such a move could prove catastrophic, with the Taliban very quickly likely to bring the entire country under it tyrannical rule.
During a meeting with British Prime Minister David Cameroon here, Rasmussen said that the nations supporting the US -led ‘war on terror’ in Afghanistan should keep their soldiers in the country as long as necessary.
“We can have our hopes, we can have our expectations, but I cannot give any guarantee as far as an exact date or year is concerned,” The Daily Times quoted Rasmussen, as saying.
“The Taliban follow the political debate in troop-contributing countries closely, and if they discover that through their attacks, they can weaken the support for our presence in Afghanistan, they will just be encouraged to step up their attacks on foreign troops,” he added.
It is worth mentioning here that last week Cameroon had said that he hopes to see British troops return home from Afghanistan within five years.
NATO and the US have more than 140,000 troops in Afghanistan with another 10,000 due in coming weeks as part of the counter-insurgency strategy.
The NATO secretary general said that an early departure from Afghanistan could see the Taliban return to power, which could have far reaching effects.
“If the world forces left too soon, the Taliban would return to Afghanistan which would once again become a safe haven for terrorist groups who would use it as a launch pad for attacks on North America and Europe,” Rasmussen said.
He also underlined that the coalition forces’ pull out could destabilise Afghanistan’s ‘nuclear’ neighbour-Pakistan. (ANI)
- NATO asks Pakistan to open transit routes - Apr 20, 2012
- NATO to continue military pressure on Haqqani network - Nov 03, 2011
- NATO head vows continuing support for Afghanistan - Sep 19, 2010
- NATO denies offering missile cooperation to India - Sep 30, 2011
- Pakistan's cooperation vital in Afghanistan: NATO chief - Dec 07, 2011
- Karzai gets approval for key plans at Afghan conference (Lead) - Jul 20, 2010
- Airstrikes on Pakistani troops unintended: NATO chief - Nov 27, 2011
- Pakistan Army refuses to accept NATO's regret - Nov 28, 2011
- NATO endorses Obama's exit plan from Afghanistan - May 22, 2012
- Zardari-NATO chief meet postponed due to plane delay - May 20, 2012
- NATO on course for planned Afghan withdrawal: Merkel - May 05, 2012
- 'NATO combat operations in Afghanistan to last till 2014' - Feb 03, 2012
- Violence not affecting Afghan transition: NATO chief - Feb 29, 2012
- 7,000 troops to join Afghan surge: Nato chief - Dec 04, 2009
- NATO fears Taliban's return to power in Afghanistan - Jul 21, 2010
Tags: allied countries, anders fogh rasmussen, british prime minister, british troops, coalition forces, counter insurgency, early departure, july 14, launch pad, minister david, nato secretary general, neighbour, political debate, safe haven, taliban, terrorist groups, throes, troops in afghanistan, tyrannical rule, war on terror